Data Art // The Ripple Effect
Artwork part of the Data Art Practitioner Exhibition at IMPACT: Generate and Demonstrate 16th July 2015 at MMU.
Conference organised by Cartwheel Arts.
www.cartwheelarts.org.uk
"Cartwheel Arts have collaborated with 12 organisations via referrals, partnerships, sharing resources & joint exhibitions, attracting an audience of 14,217 between 2012-2015."
Our actions, ideas and artwork influence people around us. Through the small (and big) things we do we have power and voice to share our ideas with others. These little ideas can then go on and continue like small butterflies into the wider community. As Dr Irvin Yalom says;
"Rippling refers to the fact that each of us creates – often without our conscious intent or knowledge – concentric circles of influence that may affect others for years, even for generations. That is, the effect we have on other people is in turn passed on to others, much as the ripples in a pond go on and on until they're no longer visible but continuing at a nano level." - Therapy Today
For this piece of work, I was amazed how Cartwheel Arts along with 12 other organisations had reached an audience of 14,217 through various events and projects. As I was considering how to convey visually this data, these ideas around ripples of effect, impact and change came to me and reminded me of the start of this process within groups.
Experiencing working with participants in visual art groups as an Emotional Support Worker and qualified counsellor I was reminded of those frequent times of how a small idea, sketch or sentence grew with importance throughout sessions. It would become something beautiful and important and then into a fully formed piece of artwork. This would then be, sometimes hesitantly, displayed within an exhibition and shared with an audience. This piece would start conversations, share and convey meaning in ways that otherwise perhaps wouldn't have been shared.Connections made and understood.
This sculpture is to celebrate those little moments, seeds of ideas and drops of conversation that then ripple on to affect our wider community.
